Let’s now try to understand what inclinations are and what connection exists between a person’s abilities and inclinations. It is not the abilities themselves that are called inclinations, but only the prerequisites for their development. Inclinations are what a person already possesses, what was given to him or given before he began to develop the corresponding abilities.
A person has two types of inclinations: congenital and acquired. The former are also sometimes called natural, and the latter - socially conditioned, since the inclinations of the first type are given to a person from birth, and he acquires the inclinations of the second type as a result of learning. For example, in order to master higher mathematics well, you need to know elementary mathematics, and this knowledge in relation to higher mathematical abilities can act as a kind of inclinations for their further development.
The dependence of the development of abilities on inclinations, their unique combination in a person is studied psychology of individual differences. It answers, in particular, the question of where certain inclinations come from in a person. One of the possible answers to it is offered by the famous American specialist in the psychology of individual differences (its second name is differential psychology) A. Anastasi: “Individual differences,” she writes, “are generated by numerous and complex interactions between the heredity of an individual and his environment... Heredity allows very wide boundaries of behavior. Within these boundaries, the result of the development process depends on its external environment.”
Having begun to study human abilities (these studies began in the 16th century), scientists began to think about the question of what innate or natural inclinations are from the point of view of their anatomical and physiological basis. For a long time it was believed that the total or relative weight of the brain (the ratio of brain weight to body weight) could indicate the presence or absence of inclinations in a person: the greater the absolute or relative weight of the brain, the correspondingly more inclinations. This idea was considered scientifically untenable for two reasons. First, it turned out that some animals, such as the elephant and the whale, have brain weights that are larger than those of humans. Second, the link between brain weight and ability has not been confirmed in humans. In addition, there were many people with a relatively small brain weight (for example, the French writer A. France), but with highly developed abilities; People with much greater brain weight were also discovered (for example, the Russian writer I.S. Turgenev), but with approximately the same abilities.
The second idea in the history of psychology connected a person’s inclinations not with weight, but with the structure of the brain: the more complex and differentiated it is structured, the more inclinations there are for the development of abilities. This idea originated in the 18th century. and was very popular during the 19th - early 20th centuries. By the time in question, the specialization of individual parts of the brain in relation to mental functions was already known, and, in addition, numerous data were obtained indicating that with local brain lesions, characteristic disturbances of mental processes occur. For example, with lesions of the occipital parts of the CGM, vision usually suffers; with lesions of the temporal regions - hearing and speech; with lesions of the parietal regions - movements, etc.
Based on these data, the idea was expressed that the inclinations for the development of individual abilities can be localized in limited areas of the CGM, and that their expansion indicates that a person has the corresponding inclinations. Supporters of this doctrine (it was called “localizationism”) divided the surface of the CGM into many small zones and associated the presence of certain abilities in a person with each such zone.
This concept was also soon rejected and declared untenable for the following reasons. First, there was no convincing evidence that individual human abilities were actually localized in the brain regions with which they were associated. In addition, localizationism was contradicted by the facts of impairment of many different abilities due to lesions of individual, local areas of the brain. Secondly, it turned out that impairments of the same abilities are often observed with lesions of different localized areas of the brainstem. Thirdly, the growth of one or another part of the brain can be caused, for example, by certain pathological changes in the functioning of the brain (say, a tumor) and in itself does not indicate the complexity of its structure. It would be more logical to associate the complexity of the structure of individual parts of the brain with the presence of inclinations, and not just the physical growth (mass) of the corresponding part of the brain. Finally, scientific theories appeared, the authors of which proved that human abilities are associated with the functioning of the brain as a whole, and not its individual parts. Such a theory was, for example, the theory of functional organs by A. Ukhtomsky (see 13.3).
I.II made his contribution to solving the problem of the anatomical and physiological basis of inclinations. Pavlov. Having discovered three pairs of properties of the nervous system: strength - weakness, mobility - inertia, balance - imbalance, he suggested that they can be considered as the physiological basis of the inclinations for the development of abilities. However, this idea was also criticized, under the influence of which it had to be abandoned. The criticism of this concept was that the properties of the nervous system can only influence the dynamic features of mental processes, states and human behavior, to which human abilities cannot be reduced.
In the last few decades, scientists who have retained the hope of one day discovering the anatomical and physiological basis of the inclinations to develop abilities associate it with the successes of genetics. These successes are truly encouraging, since it has been possible to prove that disorders in human mental development, i.e. his lack of inclinations to develop general mental abilities can be correlated with known anomalies in the genotype. However, no one has yet been able to discover “ability genes” or any specific genetic factors directly responsible for the development of human abilities, especially talent or genius. Therefore, the question of the genetic basis of abilities also remains open.
The influence of the environment, like the influence of heredity, begins to manifest itself already at the birth of a child. For example, newborn twin children have not only common features, but also features that distinguish them from each other. From birth, a person has many properties that subsequently affect his individuality and can facilitate or hinder the formation of other personal properties in him. The fact that infants can show differences in their dominant psychophysiological state soon after birth suggests that certain mental states and behaviors are subject to direct genetic influences.
Of particular interest in connection with the study of the impact of genetic factors on the development of abilities are the results of studies of homozygous (having identical heredity) and heterozygous (having different heredity) twins. Some of them, taken from the works of A. Bass and R. Plowmin, are presented in table. 11.
Table 11
Correlation between homozygous and heterozygous twins
different genders
A comparative study of homozygous twins who lived and were raised in different families shows that, contrary to expectation, their individual psychological and behavioral differences do not increase, but most often remain the same as those of children raised in the same family, and in in some cases they even decrease. Twin children who have the same heredity, as a result of their separate upbringing, sometimes become more similar to each other than if they were raised together. This fact is explained by the fact that children of the same age, who are constantly near each other, almost never manage to do the same thing, and equal relationships rarely develop between such children.
Despite the great similarity in a number of psychological and behavioral characteristics that is found among homozygous twins, the assertion that their psychological similarity is determined only genetically is hardly justified. The conducted studies and the results obtained in them allow us to consider the influence of the environment on the mental and behavioral development of a person to be more significant than the influence of the genotype.
A comparative study of the role of heredity and environment and their influence on human psychology and behavior is usually carried out in one of the following ways: 1) systematically varying the conditions of education and upbringing, a comprehensive study of children who grew up in different social conditions: cultures, regions, families, etc. ; 2) comparative study of the psychology and behavior of homozygous and heterozygous pairs of twins.
Let us turn to the analysis of some facts that testify for or against the recognition of the genotypic conditionality of individual differences in people's abilities. In studies that were aimed at determining the hereditary conditionality of intelligence, many contradictory facts were obtained that are difficult to unequivocally evaluate as evidence in favor or against the inheritance of intelligence. A typical finding in twin studies on intelligence tests is that monozygotic twins are more similar within a pair than heterozygous twins. At the same time, the influence of the environment on the psychology of monozygotic twins is also obvious, and it increases with age, while the influence of genotypic factors, on the contrary, decreases.
There are relatively few such psychological properties that could be confidently considered hereditarily determined. Among those properties that have obvious genotypic determination is, for example, the pace of human activity, on which temperament in turn depends. A particularly large influence of the genotype is revealed when studying some physical indicators of the general picture of the electrical activity of the brain - the electroencephalogram. We are talking about the presence and predominance of rhythmic oscillations (waves) of a certain amplitude and length, on which certain dynamic features of a person’s attention, motor activity and stress resistance depend.
However - and this is an important fact - none of the known properties of the nervous system is dependent solely on the genotype, since it is also influenced to a certain extent by the environment. I.V. Ravich-Scherbo writes the following about this: “The higher the role of specifically human, speech voluntary self-regulation in an activity, the less role genotype factors play, and vice versa, the lower it is, the more clearly the individual characteristics of this activity are determined by heredity.”
Like all individual psychological characteristics of a person, abilities are not acquired by a person in a ready-made form, but are formed in life and activity. Denial of innate abilities is not absolute, i.e. the innateness of the structural features of the brain is not denied, which may turn out to be a condition for the successful implementation of any activity, i.e., inclinations.
Makings –these are morphological and functional features of the structure of the brain, sensory organs and movement, which act as natural prerequisites development of abilities.
B.M. Teplov said that abilities are the makings of development.
A person has two types of inclinations: congenital and acquired. The former are sometimes called natural, and the latter social. All abilities in the process of their development go through a number of stages, and in order for some ability to rise to a higher level in its development, it is necessary that it has already been sufficiently developed at the previous level. This latter, in relation to a higher level, acts as a kind of deposit. For example, in order to master higher mathematics, you need to know elementary mathematics, and this knowledge acts as a deposit and is an acquired ability.
The fact that the inclinations are contained in the structural features of the nervous system suggests the possible genetic heritability of inclinations. At the same time, the hypothesis of the possible heritability of inclinations should not be identified with the idea of inheritance of abilities.
The makings are multi-valued. Based on the same inclinations, different abilities can develop.
Ability Levels:
1. Incapable or ability exists (in varying degrees of its development).
2. Reproductive or creative level of available ability.
The reproductive level of ability is determined when a person works well with material that is well known to all other people, but does it more deftly, more confidently.
The creative level in turn is divided into the following levels:
Giftedness;
Genius.
Giftedness –This is a qualitatively unique combination of abilities that give a person the opportunity to successfully engage in one or more types of activity.
The term “Giftedness” has many meanings. Giftedness can be general or special. General is sometimes called mental. The range of special gifts is quite large.
When people talk about giftedness, they most often mean children, since it is a little late to talk about the available opportunities in relation to the activities of an adult; it’s time to turn them into talent.
Talent –This is a high level of development of abilities, primarily special ones in their totality, which makes it possible to create original results in human activity, distinguished by fundamental novelty.
Most talented people had several highly developed abilities. Lermontov and Pushkin painted, the chemist Borodin wrote music, etc.
Genius –This is the highest level of development of abilities, which allowed an individual to achieve such results of creative activity that constitute an era in the life of society, in the development of culture, have historical significance and create new directions in science, art, and technology.
Geniuses are characterized by working in a large number of directions, where they create their works (Leonardo da Vinci, M.V. Lomonosov).
Characteristics of a genius:
1) work in different areas of science and art and the creation of completely new discoveries and works of art;
2) high labor productivity (their productivity is colossal);
3) extensive knowledge of scientific and creative heritage, i.e. a genius grasps and extracts the essence from everything that was discovered before them;
4) a genius always creatively reworks the basic ideas and concepts of previous generations and, if necessary, very harshly discards outdated ideas and concepts. He can always prove his point of view and explain why he rejects it. Unrecognized geniuses cannot convince people that they are right, do not recognize any authorities and often deny without knowing the depth of the issue.
5) the results of the creativity of a genius should help the progress of humanity (in order to discard the “evil genius”). But this sign is not required.
Abilities are those individual psychological characteristics of a person that contribute to the successful performance of one or another activity and are not limited to the knowledge, skills and abilities that he has. The abilities that manifest themselves in a schoolchild most often relate to learning or those types of activities that she engages in additionally (drawing, music...). The corresponding activity is a necessary condition not only for performance, but also for the development of abilities.
A deep analysis of the problem of abilities was given by B.M. Teplov. According to the concept developed by him and his collaborators, abilities cannot be innate, only inclinations can be innate, i.e. "anatomical and physiological prerequisites for the formation of abilities. Inclinations in the development of abilities are included only as a starting point. Abilities developing on their basis are conditioned , but are not predetermined by them.
A characteristic feature of inclinations is that they themselves are not yet aimed at anything. Inclinations influence, but not decisively, the process of formation and development of abilities, which are formed throughout life in the process of activity and education. The makings determine:
~> Different ways to develop abilities;
> Affect the level of achievement and speed of development.
In psychology, it is customary to distinguish between general and special abilities.
General- or general mental, intellectual abilities are manifested in many visas and areas of activity, including teaching.
Special - These are abilities for certain types of activities, for example, for certain types of art, languages, etc. Special abilities are organically connected with general ones.
Abilities became the subject of special psychological study in the 19th century. F Galton in his works laid the foundation for the experimental and statistical study of human differences.
Abilities are revealed in the process of mastering an activity in the extent to which an individual, other things being equal, quickly and thoroughly, easily and firmly masters the methods of its organization and implementation. They are closely related to the general orientation of the individual, to the measure of stability of a person’s inclinations for certain activities.
It is assumed that the formation of abilities occurs on the basis of inclinations. Qualitative analysis of abilities is aimed at identifying the individual characteristics necessary for the effective performance of a specific type of activity. .Quantitative measurements of abilities characterize the degree of their expression. The most common form of assessing the extent of abilities is tests (achievement test, intelligence test, creativity test).
The level and degree of development of abilities express the concepts of talent and genius.
When determining the structure of abilities as personality properties, it is always necessary to take into account genetic mechanisms and especially those properties of nervous processes that directly affect the dynamics of the development of mental processes and their properties. But it must be taken into account that abilities do not act in isolation from the development of all other systems included in the personality as components,
The abilities of different people for the same thing or activities can have a different structure due to the individual uniqueness of mental qualities and their combinations.
are not limited to the individual’s knowledge, skills and abilities. They manifest themselves in the speed and strength of mastering the methods of certain activities, and act as regulatory features of the mental activity of the individual.
Nature of abilities
In the middle of the 18th century. abilities were assessed as a global psychological problem (X. Wolf). For a long time they were interpreted as comprehensive properties of the soul, initially inherent in the individual, as his hereditary predestination. French materialists of the 18th century. put forward the opposite thesis about the complete dependence of abilities on the living conditions of the individual. Meanwhile, the problem of abilities is a problem of the dialectical relationship between internal and external.
The Problem of Abilities became the subject of scientific study in the 19th century. in connection with the research of F. Galton, who applied experimental and statistical approaches to this problem and became the founder of differential psychology. Using the “method of twins,” Galton opened up the possibility of studying the relationship between heredity and external influences. Galton also came up with the idea of using tests to determine individual differences (“An Inquiry into Human Abilities and Their Development” (1883)).
The development of abilities should not be understood as a quantitative increase in natural inclinations, the maturation of what is given to a person by nature. The development of abilities is determined by the requirements put forward to a person in the process of his activity, the diversity and content of this activity. Each person has only his inherent abilities both in individual types of activity and in broad areas of life.
The ability to perform one or another activity can determine a person’s aspiration for one or another type of activity and manifest itself in the form inclinations. Along with this, each person has characteristics that are unfavorable for certain types of activity, an inability to perform certain types of activity. There are no good or bad abilities, there is an individual's ability or inability to perform a certain activity.
Human abilities and inclinations
From birth a person has no abilities. But it has certain natural prerequisites - makings of for their subsequent development under certain conditions. Thus, the corresponding properties of the visual analyzer and the artistic type of higher nervous activity are innate prerequisites for the formation of artistic abilities.
The makings of abilities are the features of the nervous system that determine the functioning of various individual cortical zones and hemispheres of the brain. Congenital inclinations determine the rate of formation of temporary nerve connections, their stability, and the ratio of the first and second signaling systems.
Natural prerequisites for abilities ambiguous- on their basis, various abilities can be formed. Abilities lend themselves perestroika(recombination). This provides compensatory possibilities mental regulation: the weakness of some neurophysiological components is compensated by the strength of others.
The psychophysical capabilities of a person, his abilities are inexhaustible. However, not every person knows about their capabilities and uses them properly. Meanwhile, the highest self-realization of the individual is the main meaning of human existence.
